The news that bestselling writer and former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was shot and killed on Saturday at a gun range in Texas (along with another victim whose name hasn’t been released) adds yet another headline to the recent spate of news about guns in America. Kyle was proud to be the deadliest soldier in American military history, as the title of his book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, attests. On May 14, Kyle’s publisher is slated to release his follow-up to American Sniper, American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms. For those wanting more context and history about the issue of gun rights in America (and less saber-rattling, political back-and-forth), we do what we’re known for at Kirkus: directing you to the books that do the best job of explaining the issue.

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